Zormasa’s blog

Dan Fogelberg died today...

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:27:10 -0800

A great songwriter, he had a huge impact on my life when I was in my teens. I used to go see him at the Universal Ampitheatre in L.A. This is a sad day.

"Seldom seen a scarecrow's dream
I hang in the hopes of replacement
Castles tall, I built them all
But I dream that I'm trapped in the basement
And if you ever hear me calling out
And if you've been by paupers crowned
Between the worlds of men and make-believe I can be found."
~Dan Fogelberg - Scarecrows Dream, Netherlands, 1977

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/16/obit.fogelberg.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Off to London

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:40:43 -0800

V and A

I'm leaving for London in the morning. This trip is a birthday present from my boss. We'll be there for ten days, with a side trip to Brighton, in the middle somewhere. More later.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The Life and Death of a Pumpkin

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:36:03 -0700

The Life and Death of a Pumpkin

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: Happy Voxiversary!

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:58:41 -0700

Today is Vox's first anniversary since the official launch. What's the best experience you've had on Vox in the past year?

There's not one particular experience that I would call best. It's more the overall warmth of the people I've had the pleasure and the privilege to call my neighbors. Plus, the fun / cool part about it all is the fact that we became neighbors simply because of a comment left here or a comment left there.

That little comment, it's the simplest little gesture, but it makes all the difference...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY...UM, VOXIVERSARY!

Edit: Almost forgot. I also enjoyed having my banner design chosen as one of the 50 winners last year. :-)

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Dying Alone

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:58:00 -0700

Last Friday I went to a memorial service for a friend who had a heart attack and died on July 24th. He was a good friend of my dad's. I knew him as "Chip", but his real name was Murray Riley Smith. He hung out at my parent's house a lot over the last ten years. He didn't have any family, so my parent's would always invite him over whenever we had any type of holiday gathering; Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, etc. He was a really nice guy. But the reason I feel like I want to write a post about him is because, when he died, he had no family. I mean NO family. He was only 60 years old. He was all alone when he had the heart attack and he called 911 himself. When the ambulance arrived at his house, it was too late, he had died.

Chip

My sister managed to get all his photos from his house. He had a lot of cool old ones. Like this "playing cowboys".

Chip's Photos - Cowboys

There were also a ton of older photos. We all sat and looked through them and it was just so sad because none of us knew who the people were in the pictures. We could guess at some of them, but most of them were unknown. They were not marked on the back, etc. I guess it feels so sad because he was the only one who knew who all the people were and he never told anyone. So it's like a whole family history is just "poof". I scanned a couple of them.

Chip's Photos - Girl Dressed Up

Chip's Photos - Swingin' Couple

Oh and he got the nickname "Chip" from his mom. She used to call him "chipmunk" because he had puffy cheeks. It stuck with him his whole life.

Edit: I wanted to add this poem that was left on Chip's photograph, on my Flickr. Goodbye... It's by SilvisRivers, a very talented artist and poet with the most kind heart. This poem speaks volumes.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Lightning!

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:42:44 -0700

Lightning in Templeton, California

At the end of August, we had the most incredible storm. I have never before seen so much lightning. It just kept going and going. The thunder was so loud, at times, that it actually scared me and I had to duck my head under the covers. The lightning came from every direction and since my bedroom does not have curtains on any of the windows, it felt like a theater, and the lightning was the show! I opened one of my windows, set my camera on the window sill and turned it on. This clip was the result, minus black space at front and back, that I edited out. Oh and this is the first video I've ever posted to YouTube.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

New Art

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 23:50:51 -0700

Neighborhood X 3

I had a few days off work last week. It was exactly seven days, including the weekend. Yeah that sucks for me, but anyway, one thing I did while I was off, was finish a few art cards I had been working on. Inspiration came from our move into a new neighborhood...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: My Strongest Summer Memory

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:22:13 -0700

What will you remember most about this summer?

The Farmer's Market in our little town is one of the best in our county and we just moved here in June! I love the peaches, tomatoes and BERRIES! I bought a pack of blackberries, raspberries and strawberries and made berry shakes. It's hot here, so these tasted like a dream.

Berry Shake

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

New and Improved

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:59:17 -0700

My posts all sound like commercials. I should write copy or something. Movies, phones, whatever...I can talk 'em up. I don't like it. I should change, maybe. I think it's because I don't want to expose any true feelings or emotions. There's just something about having that personal shit floating out on the interweb that makes me hold back. Yep.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

New Cell Phone

nobody@vox.com(Zormasa) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:14:30 -0700

I finally broke down and got a real cell phone. I've had a pay-as-you-go for about 8 months, but since we moved into our house I've been using it way too much for the pay-as-you-go to be cost effective. I decided not to get a land line at all, so a new phone and new contract was the answer. Yes, I lust after the iPhone with every ounce of my Mac loving soul, but alas, the cost is too high. So I scoured the internet for some kind of deal on a phone I could live with. I found this:

Nokia 5300

The phone was free and also had a $50.00 rebate. So I paid $0 for the phone and I'm getting $50.00 as a bonus. That will cover the activation fee of $35.00. Really, can't beat the price. I had a choice of white and black or white and lilac. I wish they had green but since they did not, I chose the lilac. I needed something cheerful.

I know, it looks like a toy, but it really is so much fun. It comes with a USB cable, so I can get music and photos from my computer. It has a radio too. I'm having a great time learning all the cool stuff it does. I also found a website where I can get free games. I can download them to my comp and then put them on my phone via USB. I refuse to go on the internet with it because I know the cost will just skyrocket, but I really want cool pics and games, etc., so I've found ways to get them. This stuff is probably old news to most people, but for me it's all new and exciting. Of course, anything is an improvement over my last phone, it was a Motorola I bought at Target for $14.99. Yep, moving up in the world...only took me 49 years.

Credit where credit is due: I found above photo on Flickr, courtesy of MobileBurn

Read and post comments | Send to a friend